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Dogs at the Itzehoer Dachshund Race
Photo: Carsten Rehder / dpa
The cities and municipalities posted record income from dog tax in the Corona year 2020.
In the first three quarters of last year, around 331 million euros flowed into the public coffers from the dog tax, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Tuesday.
That meant an increase of two and a half percent compared to the same period last year.
The income from the dog tax has increased continuously in recent years.
For the whole of 2019, cities and municipalities booked a total of 370 million euros.
That was three percent more than in the previous year and even 50 percent more than ten years earlier.
In 2009 the dog tax brought in the public budget 248 million euros.
The dog tax is a municipal tax, the amount of which is determined by the respective municipality.
In many places, the amount that dog owners have to pay also depends on the number of four-legged friends in the household or on the breed of dog.
According to statisticians, higher tax revenues do not necessarily mean that the number of four-legged pets also increased.
However, among other things, the German Animal Welfare Association reported a "pet boom" in the Corona year 2020. However, the illegal puppy trade also increased.
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caw / AFP